Federal judge upholds Idaho law that bans vaccine, medical treatment requirements in daycares

An Idaho judge dismissed a lawsuit from a Boise daycare and parents that sought to block enforcement of a state law that bans daycares from requiring vaccines or medical treatment. 

The lawsuit claimed that the Idaho Medical Freedom Act was unconstitutionally vague, arguing its language bans a range of routine health protections — including handwashing and sending home sick kids. But last week, Chief U.S. District Judge for the District of Idaho Amanda K. Brailsford granted Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, which was brought by Le Soleil Child Care LLC, and three parents whose kids attend the daycare or hope to.

In her ruling, the federal judge wrote she agreed with Labrador’s interpretation of the law’s definition of “medical interventions,” writing that they refer to health actions that are “medical in nature.” 

“The (Idaho Medical Freedom Act) plainly and unambiguously sets out a standard of prohibited conduct that gives a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice of what is prohibited,” Brailsford wrote, ruling that the daycare didn’t show that the state law was unconstitutionally vague. 

“The Court agrees with the AG that Le Soleil is free to promote its beliefs and values about public health and vaccinations …” the judge wrote. “The only thing the (Idaho Medical Freedom Act) prevents is Le Soleil requiring that only vaccinated students hear those values.”

AG praises court ruling. Parents, daycare consider appealing, lawyer says.

The ruling upholds a state law that bans daycares, businesses, governments and schools from mandating vaccines or “medical interventions,” which are defined as: “a medical procedure, treatment, device, drug injection, medication, or medical action taken to diagnose, prevent, or cure a disease or alter the health or biological function of a person.”

In a statement, Labrador said he was pleased with the court’s decision.

“Parents make medical decisions for their children. A daycare does not,” Labrador said in a statement. “The Legislature protected that choice in the Medical Freedom Act, and the court upheld it. Daycares can tell parents what they believe about vaccines and health, but they cannot turn a child away because of a parent’s medical decision. That decision belongs to families, and I’m pleased the court agreed.”

Idaho has the lowest rate of kindergartners — nearly four out of every five — who are reportedly up to date on their measles vaccine, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The state has reported 10 measles cases this year, as nearby states experience outbreaks. 

In a statement, Andrea Carone, an attorney for the daycare and parents who sued, wrote that the plaintiffs are considering appealing to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Our clients are obviously disappointed by the district court’s ruling and the narrow manner in which it interpreted the right at issue,” Carone said. “The Idaho Medical Freedom Act places parents like our individual clients and daycares like Le Soleil in the untenable position of being unable to take reasonable steps to protect their children or children in their care from childhood diseases that vaccines shield against. This is a clear public health issue that we must rely, in the near term, on the Idaho Legislature to address and correct.”

The daycare’s lawsuit isn’t the first concern that the bill could prevent sending home sick kids

The lawsuit’s arguments echoed a heated debate among lawmakers over the 2025 bill. 

Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoed an earlier version of it over concerns that it could prevent schools from sending home sick kids. But in April, his spokesperson said the revised bill that the governor signed into law “does not jeopardize the ability of public schools or daycares to send home children sick with contagious conditions.”

Labrador, also a Republican, urged lawmakers to override the governor’s veto. A veto override attempt by the Senate failed. 

In debating the revised bill, several Republican lawmakers worried that it would stop businesses from sending home sick employees or customers. 

The bill’s author, Health Freedom Defense Fund President Leslie Manookian, wants Idaho’s law to become a national model for similar laws, ProPublica reported.